The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-12-30
TALMA0FS SERMON.
4 Sermon Peculiarly Adapted 10
the Holiday season.

1sersssssas WAssA Mav - Isaslesa 4.
ga 1hsss WhSsA SAsslA ~ H.
sAswea ~ Being Fsrasessas
h TAsie Ts.assssss.
'sRsersatious, Good and bad" was the
subject Of . recent dtscourse BY Rev. T.
DsWitt Talmage at the Brooklyn TAber.
nacle. The following were his texts:
They that use this world, - not abusine IT.
L Corinthians, vii, 81.
And It came pass. when thsir hearts were
merry, that they said. Call for Samson that
he may make % Snort. Aad they called for
Samson out Of the prison house: and no made
them sport-Judges xvi, -
Or. Talmage said: We are entsring the
gayest season Of the year. The winter
opens before ~ the gates Of q thousand
amusemeuts, some Of them good and some
bad. One Of my texts will show you that
amusements may be destructive, my other
text will show you that amusements may
be under the divine blessing and direction.
There were 8 008 people assembled in the
Temple Of Dagon. They had come to
make sport of eyeless Samson. They were
all ready for the entertainment They
began to clap and pound, impatient for
the amusement to begin, and they cried:
"Fetch him out; fetch him out - Yonder
/ see the blind old giant coming, led by the
hand of q child into the very midst of the
temple. At his first appearance there goes
up shout Of laughter and derision. The
blind old giant preteHds he is tired. and
wants to rest himself against the pillars
of the house; SO he says to the lad who
leads him: "Show me where tbs main
pillars are" The lad does so. Then the
strong man puts his right hand on one
pillar aud his left hand on another pillar,
and, with the mightiest push that mortal
ever made, throws himself forward until
the whole house comes down in thunder.
Gus crash, grinding the audience like
grapes in q wine-press. sand SO it came
to pass. when their hearts were merry.
that they said: Call for Samson, that be
may make us SPORT And they called for
Samson out OF the prison.house, and he
made them sport"
In other words: There are anu ,ements
that are destructive, and bring down dis.
nster and death upon the heads of those
who practice them. While they laugh
and cheer, they die. The three thousand
who persisted that day in GAIA are as
nothing when compared to the tens Of
thousands who have been destroyed by
sinful amusements.
But the other text have read implies
that there is lawful use of the world as
we'll as an unlawful abuse Of II, and the
difference between the man Christian and
the man unchristian is that in the former
fha tho vvvx,~1.H s,,
the latter case the world masters him
For whom did God make this grand and
beautiful world? For whom this wonder
full expenditure Of color, this gracefulnsss
Of line, this mosaic of the ground, this
fresco of the sky, this glowing fruitage of
orchard and vineyard. this full orchestra
Of the tempest, in which the tres branches
flute, and the wind trumpet, and the
drum, and all the splendors of
earth and sky come clashing their Gym.
balls? For whom did God spring the
arched bridge of colors resting upon but
tresses of broken storm cloud! For whom
did He gather the upholstery OF fire
around the window of the setting sun?
For all men; but more especially for His
own dear children.
II you build large mansion and spread
D great feast after it to celebrate the com.
pletetion of the structure, do you allow
strangers to come in and occupy the
place while you thrust your own children
in the Kitchen or the barn or the fields?
Oh. no. You say: II am very glad to see
strangers in my mansion, but my own
sons and daughters shall have the first
right there" Now, God has built this
grand mansion Of a world, and he has
spread a glorious feast in 1t; and while
hose who are strangers to His grace may
come in, think that God especially in.
tends to give the advantage to His own
those who are the sons and
daughters of the Lord Almighty, those
who through grace can look up and say,
"Abba, Father" You can not make
NE believe that God gives more
to tbs world than he gives to
The church bought by his own blood. II,
people Of the world have looked
with dolorous sy mpathy upon those who
make profession of religion, and have said:
Those new converts are going down
INTO privation and into hardship. Why
lid not they tarry a little longer in the
world, and have some Of its enjoyments.
aud amusements, and recreations?" l
10y " SuSh INCH VI thC "Otlus
greatly mistaken" and before I get
through will show that thos people who
stay out OF the kingdom of God have the
iardships and self-den:als. while those
who come in have the joys and the salts.
factions.
This morning, In the name of tbs King Of
Heaven and Earth, serve a writ Of eject.
nent upon all the sinful and polluted who
have squatted ON the domain of earthly
pleasure rs though il belonged to them,
while claim, in behalf Of the good. and
he pure. and the true, the eternal inhsr.
tance which God has given them.
Hitherto Christian philanthropists. cler-
cai and lay, have busted them selves
chiefly in denouncing sinful recrea tious, but
feel we have noright to stand before men
and women in who's, hearts there is de-
,ire for recreation amounting to positive
necessity, denouncing this and that
and the other thing. when We do
not propose to give them some-
hing better. God helping m, this morn
ing, and with reference to my last &C.
count, I shall enter upon a sphere not
usual in sermonizing, but subj vet which
think ought to be presents at this
time. propose now to lay before you
some Of the recreations which are not
only innocent, but positively helpful and
In the first place, I commend, among
indoor recreations, music, vocal and in.
strumental. Among the first things
created was the bird, so that tn, earth
might have Emusic at the start. This
world, which be gan with 50 Sweet q sere.
made. is finally to be demolished amidst
The ringing blast of tbs srchangel's
trumpet, SO that as there wa music at the
start, there shall be music at the close.
While this heavenly art has often been
dragged into the uses Of superstition and
We all know it may be the
means of high moral culture. Oh, it is q
rrand thing to have our children brought